The Jinxed Rain (Shintaro x Ayano)
by ThePassiveSun
Summary: "Shintaro-kun?" Ayano's voice juts into my mind. I blink, coming back into reality. It's been a week since Ayano came back. It's been the most relaxing week I've ever had; that is, outside of my house. I remember the promise I made to myself the day I was with her again, "Never take anything for granted again."


_**Shintaro x Ayano**_

_Shintaro's PoV_

_**There's some smut in future chapters so... Just a warning!**_

_*After the snake incident*_

"Shintaro-kun?" Ayano's voice juts into my mind. I blink, coming back into reality. It's been a week since Ayano came back. It's been the most relaxing week I've ever had; that is, outside of my house. I remember the promise I made to myself the day I was with her again, "_Never take anything for granted again." _

I turned to look at her curious face. "What's wrong?" She asks. I smile.

"It's… nothing. I'm just… able to breathe easy, for once." I respond. It was the truth, or at least half of it. I felt a slight tingle of embarrassment for thinking of such cliche things, but ignored it. Ayano tugs at her scarf, her signature scarf.

"Today's a really nice day." She mumbles, softly grinning at the ground. I chuckle.

"Say that, and it might turn on you and rain." I tease. She turns and pouts at me, a slight red making an appearance on her fairly pale face. Her brown hair soared around gently, as the swift ending-summer breeze swept throughout the park. I sigh. "Where is everyone else?" I question, ignoring the strange flutter in my chest. It was unnatural… nothing I've ever felt. Ayano smiles brightly.

"Um… I think Shuuya and Kido might come by later, and then Marry… Hmph…" Ayano bites her lip as she tries to recall what she was told many hours earlier. I let out a brief laugh and lean back on the bench.

"Forgetful as ever." I state happily.

Ayano blushes and turns her head away. "Why do you seem difhenfenqfn." I heard her mutter.

"What was that?" I ask. A million thoughts rushed to my head. Was I too harsh? I felt fear rushing through my blood. Ayano turns around and looks at me, and pouts teasingly.

"I mean…" Her face turns a deep red; something I've never seen on her calm face. "... You seem… different… so much kinder…" She says hesitantly. "But- But that's not bad! I mean, it was unexpected.. but…" It seemed like she couldn't grasp the words, her face turning pinker every second.

I break out into a laugh. And I couldn't stop. So this is what friendship felt like, truly. But when I said that in my mind, something lulled when I said friendship. I shook it off.

Ayano suddenly stands up, slightly shaken. "Hey… Shintaro… we should go to the mall… now or something." She says. I grin and stand up and begin to walk to the nearest shopping mall. Ayano trails behind me, playing with her fingers. I noticed when she swung her arms to the side and grabbed her right hand. She looks up, a little shocked. "Hm…?" She manages to say when I interrupt.

"I mean, you're bound to get left behind if I don't hold your hand…" I explain, but once I recognized what exactly we looked like to the public, my face burned.

_We looked like a COUPLE._

I think Ayano realized it much before I did, because when I looked at her behind me, her face was shadowed and it was tinged with pink. But people were already gawking at us and I supposed it'd be even more awkward if I let go. I stepped up my pace to the mall. We were nearing the entrance when I heard a familiar voice say: "Did you hide a secret from us, nee-san?" I turned around, and out of all people to see me holding Ayano's hand, it was Kano. He was grinning ear to ear, and behind him, Kido was barely holding in her chuckles. I ripped my hand away from Ayano, and she probably did the same, from the pressure I felt when my hand was away.

Ayano desperately says: "SHUUYA! It was only for…. um…" I guess the reason I gave her was pretty bad. Kano's mischievous grin only grows. "Well, I expected you two to be together anyway so this isn't SO surprising!" Kano says, and Kido breaks out into a laughter. "WE'RE NOT DATING!" Ayano and I yell in unison.

_Ayano's PoV_

Thirty minutes pass since we ran into Shuuya and Kido. Shintaro and I refused to say anything to each other. My face was still bright red as I recalled what had happened. I felt my cheek. It was burning, and it left a shimmery feeling on my fingertips. I smiled. For some reason, there was a strange pounding in my chest. It was a thrilling feeling, although I could barely explain it. I looked up at Shintaro, his black hair swishing as he walked down the isles.

"Ayano." He suddenly says, and I snap out of my hazy stage.

"Oh! Uh, yes?" I ask, hoping he didn't notice me staring at him.

"Why did you need to come to the mall again? Did you need to buy something?" He asks, turning around and looking at me with large brown eyes and a smile that could melt concrete. I hesitated and looked away, my face boiling again. Why do I feel this way?

"No I didn't really need anything… I just kind of wanted to spend time with.. you…" I mumble. Shintaro's face turns crimson, and he turns his back to me again. But instead, he grabs my hand and tugs me along.

I ended up walking beside Shintaro instead of behind him, clutching his left arm and resting my head on the bottom of his shoulder. "_It doesn't mean anything." _I explain to myself. _"It's just… comfortable I guess. Shintaro isn't bothered by it." _We pass one of the stores I go in regularly, and Shintaro notices me looking at it. "Do you want to… head in?" He asks hesitantly.

"I mean, if you want to…" I say quickly. Shintaro just grins at me and leads me inside. This store was where my mom bought the red scarf I have **(I dunno, I forgot where she got it, JUST ROLL WITH ME HERE) **I was a regular here… but I felt insanely self-conscious with Shintaro-kun… The girl behind the counter was one of my friends, Lizbeth. She notices me when I walk in and immediately stares at me. "Give me a… second…" I explain to Shintaro, and hurry over to the counter. Liz smirks.

"Who's the guy with you? Ayano, have you refused to tell me you had a boyfriend?" Lizbeth teases. I blush and whip around, making sure Shintaro was at least a enough of a distance away to not hear our conversation.

"LIZ! He's just a…. friend!" I press. Lizbeth giggles and tosses her long pink hair over her shoulder.

"He's cute… I say you go for it. You were holding his arm on the way in too!" She says, giggling. I pout, and hurry away from Liz, afraid Shintaro was getting bored.

I hurry over to him, to find him quietly speaking to Takane. "Oh! Ayano's back. Gotta go, Ene." Shintaro says, smiling into his phone, then it seems Takane says something that makes him blush. "Sh-Shut up!" He says to her, before shutting off his phone with a sigh.

"What was that about?" I ask curiously. Shintaro turns red and looks away.

"Heh, nothing at all. Ene's just being annoying; as usual." He explains quickly, and I tip my head in confusion. But, I shrug it off and take Shintaro's hand, pulling him to the fabrics section.

For once in a lifetime, Shintaro seemed to enjoy shopping with me. We were filled with fits of giggles, looking through the clothes. I've never seen his so cheerful in a store. With me, at least. I was looking through the racks of shawls when something caught my attention. It was hidden behind a light blue shawl; a jet black scarf with red stripes. It looked perfect for Shintaro. I turned around and saw him looking through T-shirts and playfully walked over to him, looping the scarf over his neck. He turns around, shocked.

I smile. "It looks nice on you." Is all I say. Shintaro's face blooms in pink. It was too adorable for me to handle. I giggle and try to cover over my laugh with my hand. Shintaro looks down at the scarf. He blushes again.

"I- Um… I like it…" He says, a smile lingering at his lips. I grin.

After purchasing the scarf, we decided to head back already. As we walked closer to the entrance of the mall, I heard trickling and a pattering sound from outside. "No way!" I exclaim. We peered out the door and yup. It was raining. Shintaro chuckles.

"I told you!" He says, trying desperately to contain his laughter. I pout again. I never expected his tease to be true. "Did you bring an umbrella?" Shintaro asks me when he stops laughing. I shrug and smile. I couldn't be angry at him.

"I did! At the time. it felt stupid, but I guess it comes in handy." I mumble, pulling out the grey umbrella. I opened it above our heads and we walked out.

The rain heavily dropped on the umbrella, and I struggled slightly to hold it upright. However, it was just large enough to shield Shintaro and me equally. I was grateful for that. The ground had become slightly muddy, but it was fine since I wore short boots today. I had regretted it earlier when it was incredibly hot, but now, it was perfect. Shintaro took the handle of the umbrella from me, after observing me struggle with the weight.

There was a quiet and awkward aura around us. It was quiet, except for the sound of the rain. I could hear Shintaro's steady breathing, and it made me blush. I decided to hold onto his arm like earlier in the store. When I did, he reddebed a tad bit, but smiled at me. We headed to the bus stop, which was a bench and a sign.

We sat together, trying to hide from the cold rain. "This is kind of… nice." I whisper. "It's quiet and a nice temperature…" Shintaro doesn't respond. "Shintaro-kun?" I question, looking at him curiously, when he suddenly pulls me close against him and lifts my chin to his level.

"S-Shintaro….?!" I manage to say. My face was suddenly boiling as I was locked in eye-contact with his eyes. We were literally inches apart. I slowly closed my eyes, and he decided to close the gap. Our lips touched, and my heart flourished. The kiss was soft and sweet. But soon after, we both gently pulled away, because we ran out of air. Shintaro immediately blushes.

"S-Sorry, Ayano! I didn't mean to! I mean, you just looked amazing with raindrops in your hair that I just stopped thinki-" I cut him off by hugging him tightly.

"Hey, Shintaro-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"... I love you too."


End file.
